There’s been some buzz lately about whether “comments” sections can be saved, with many publishers considering eradicating the whole feature.But before you consider giving your comments section the axe, you may want to look at your referral traffic numbers. In this week’s How-to on our sister site, Subscription Site Insider, we explain how “comments” sections allow users to cross-post their comments to social media feeds, which then increases the amount of referral traffic they get.For sites like LinkedIn, these cross-posts not only let LinkedIn members share your content, but also determine your ranking on LinkedIn Today — LinkedIn’s aggregating service of online content and an incredibly powerful platform for driving high-quality traffic to your site for free.There are two ways to let people cross-post their comments from your site to social media sites. The traditional way has been to allow users to login with a social media account.

But we prefer what the Huffington Post is doing. Instead of forcing users to link their site with one social media account, HuffPo is letting users post any particular comment to a variety of social media sites.

This is a great option, since it lets people share your content over multiple platforms as well as reduces visitor resistance to sharing by not forcing them to link one of their social media accounts to your site. Bravo, HuffPo!To learn how comments can then get you listed as a “top headline” on LinkedIn Today, read Subscription Site Insider‘s most recent How-To. It’s explains the secret behind LinkedIn Today’s complex algorithm and has 9 practical tips to help you drive more referral traffic to your site.